- Turkey: Regime orders mass arrests over online praise for recent school shootings
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Turkish police have ordered the arrest of scores of people accused of either praising or spreading fake news about the country’s recent school shootings online. At least nine people died in a school shooting in the southern province of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, and on Tuesday, a former student opened fire at a high school in the southeastern district of Siverek, injuring 16.” (04/16/26)
- CA: High court disbars Eastman over fake electors scheme
Source: United Press International
“The California Supreme Court has disbarred John Eastman, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, over his involvement in the so-called fake electors scheme to overturn the 2020 election. The state’s high court ruled Wednesday that Eastman, 65, is disbarred from practicing law in California and must pay a $5,000 sanction to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund, a discretionary fund that reimburses clients for financial losses caused by dishonest conduct or theft by their lawyers. Eastman is considered one of the main architects of the plan to replace legitimate electors of President Joe Biden with fakes supporting Trump in several battleground states, including Georgia where he was charged in the scheme.” (04/16/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/04/16/John-Eastman-disbarred/4751776318362/
- El Salvador: Regime publishes law allowing life sentences for minors as young as 12
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“El Salvador has published a new law that will allow authorities to penalise minors as young as 12 with life imprisonment for severe crimes, including homicide, terrorism or rape. On Tuesday, the Salvadoran government released the law, which is slated to take effect on April 26. … The life sentences for minors was approved as part of a constitutional amendment in March, championed by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. The country’s legislative assembly is overwhelmingly controlled by Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party.” (04/16/26)
- Authoritarianism Was Defeated in Hungary
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye“Orbán’s loss doesn’t mean the authoritarian impulse is spent in Hungary or anywhere else. Magyar is a former Fidesz insider, and the system Orbán built doesn’t disappear the morning after an election. Brussels and the new Magyar government shouldn’t underestimate the resistance of the Orbán system and its entrenched members across government institutions. The Kremlin loses an important ally inside the EU. Ukraine may finally see Hungary’s veto on EU support lifted. These are real consequences worth acknowledging. All this said, the lesson here isn’t really about Hungary. It’s about what happens when a population finally gets tired of being told the looting is governance and the propaganda is journalism.” (04/15/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/authoritarianism-was-defeated-in
- Orban Was Bad, Even Though We Don’t Have A Perfect Word For His Badness
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander“Every country, from the best to the worst, has a ruling party that can (and does) try some undemocratic things, but is too afraid to try others. Democracy versus dictatorship is a spectrum, not a binary choice. … But some of the people demanding that Orban critics apologize don’t seem to just be mincing words. They seem to be implicitly denying the spectrum concept of democratic backsliding at all, arguing that if it’s possible to lose an election, past concerns must have been misplaced and retroactively embarrassing for the concern-holder.” (04/15/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/orban-was-bad-even-though-we-dont
- JD Vance’s Devil-May-Care Attitude Is UnAmerican and UnCatholic
Source: The UnPopulist
by Thomas D Howes“Elie Wiesel is often credited with the observation that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Indifference is clearly not morally neutral. To respond with indifference when love and concern are due is a sign that something has gone wrong — whether it’s a voluntary fault and thus immoral, or something involuntary and inculpable. But indifference in such cases is never something to praise or, worse, advocate for. Yet that is just what Vance consistently does. He is not alone in this. A growing current on the right has explicitly reframed indifference as a virtue — denouncing empathy toward immigrants, refugees, and foreign peoples as ‘suicidal,’ manipulative, or simply naive.” (04/15/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/jd-vances-devil-may-care-attitude
- Kentucky General Assembly failed to deliver on housing affordability
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown“Kentucky’s next generation deserved better from this legislative session. For two years, Kentucky’s Housing Task Force built a record, heard from builders, experts, local officials, and families struggling to afford a place to live. Ultimately, the task force embraced recommendations advanced by the Bluegrass Institute last year. … Legislation that was one concurrence away from final passage would have altered the housing marketplace to make homes more affordable, enhance Kentuckians’ property rights, clear away needless regulatory barriers, and give developers greater confidence to undertake projects. Kentucky lawmakers couldn’t get the job done, and that failure carries real consequences for young people across our commonwealth.” (04/15/26)
- Another Trillion Racks Up for the National Debt
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann“The U.S. government’s total public debt outstanding is on the verge of permanently surpassing $39 trillion. In truth, it already has, first breaching it on March 17, 2026. Since then, it’s bounced around that level, sometimes over, sometimes under. This situation won’t last. Soon, the U.S. government will borrow even more money to support its excessive spending. When it does, it will leave $39 trillion in the rear-view mirror, probably for good.” (04/15/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/15/another-trillion-national-debt/
- The Science of Politics, 04/15/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“Why rural areas vote Republican despite worse health outcomes.” (04/15/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/why-rural-areas-vote-republican-despite-worse-health-outcomes
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 381
Source: Free the People
“Our Institutions Are Killing Conversations | Guest: Peter Boghossian.” (04/15/26)
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2752
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Trump, the Pope, and MAGA .” (04/15/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/15/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Thousands More US Troops Heading to Mideast, US Prepares for Attack on Cuba, and More.” (04/15/26)